PEOPLE/INNOVATION
A day in the life… Albert Demny Chief product designer, Weir Seaboard
Background • Almost fi ve decades in the oil and gas industry
• Joined Seaboard in 1975 • Designs product enhancements and new innovations to solve customer problems
The day’s events
Albert Demny usually starts his working day in the offi ce at 5.00am and is the last person to leave. He meets with sales engineers and reviews customer requirements and concerns throughout the day. These meetings provide the impetus for product enhancements or product innovation to address the customer needs of an industry that continually evolves. Albert has been behind a number of important
industry developments, including the tension hanger system used for offshore completions in high-pressure high-temperature environments to eliminate the buckling of tubing. He has also designed solutions for the underwater recovery of wells during hurricanes. His latest project is
“The most rewarding work is when a sales rep comes to me with a request or problem from the customer and I can use my design skills to solve that issue,” said Albert. “That’s the best part. I have always loved this work.”
After nearly four decades with the company, Albert is planning to retire this year. Determined to ensure his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm doesn’t all walk out the door with him, Albert is spending an increasing amount of time mentoring and passing on his knowledge to the other engineers and designers at Weir Seaboard. He reviews and challenges possible solutions and passes on his experience of evolving technologies. “Albert has a terrifi c ability to visualise
designing Seaboard’s zipper manifold which is scheduled to launch this year. Albert’s design solutions are a direct consequence of customer feedback which he then visualises into a solution which he puts through an iterative design process. The design is then built and tested.
Improving fl uid end technology
The Weir Oil & Gas team of 50 engineers had a clear challenge – to develop a fl uid
end for unconventional shale plays that, on average, will operate about twice as long as a conventional fl uid end. A 16-month journey began with a focus on the
three fundamental root causes of fl uid end failure including cracking in the cross bores, cracking in the valve seat deck and corrosion pitting. Addressing these three areas involved a combination of new geometry, improved manufacturing processes and looking at alternative material options. The result is SPM Duralast patent-pending technology engineered to double the life of fl uid ends used in unconventional shale plays. Two of the three causes of failure could be tackled by focusing on the geometry and manufacturing processes of fl uid end technology. This included cracking of the cross bores and cracking in the valve seat deck. First, the SPM Duralast patent-pending technology offers offset suction and discharge bores versus the parallel bores of traditional fl uid ends. By taking this approach, stress in the cross-bores was reduced. Then the team realised that cracking in the
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valve seat deck was due to stress loading and would ultimately play a major role in fl uid end failures in addition to the cross bores. The team began to focus on the design of the seat and its relationship with the fl uid end. Designing a valve seat that created a friendly environment for the interworking of the fl uid end which mitigated stress loads common in conventional valve seat design was critical. The design resulted in the SPM Duralast valve seat technology, which, combined with the offset bores, is designed to deliver internal stress reduction greater than 30% and increased fatigue life greater than 50%. Ultimately this focus on the geometry coupled with additional enhanced manufacturing processes, resulted in a fl uid end that doubles the life of traditional fl uid ends.* Corrosion pitting has been the third prevalent
factor in the reduction of life. Developing material technology was the obvious next step in the evolution. Weir Oil & Gas created proprietary stainless steel that delivered the required mechanical properties that enable frac pumps to operate in today’s unconventional shale plays. The proprietary stainless steel provides the corrosion resistance while the SPM Duralast fl uid
The SPM Duralast fl uid end
end technology reduces the internal stresses and increases fatigue life. This combination delivers fi ve times the life of conventional fl uid ends. Extensive fi eld testing with major operators validated that, on average, a fl uid end with the new technology has at least double the operating life of a conventional fl uid end run under the same conditions. Additionally, computational analysis by academic partners verifi ed the specifi cations of the improvements delivered with the SPM Duralast fl uid end technology. Customers will be pleased with the ease of implementation because this fl uid end works with conventional power ends. While SPM Duralast technology solves today’s
challenge; the engineering team is already looking at the next generation of pumping equipment to solve tomorrow’s toughest industry challenges.
*SPM Duralast patent pending fl uid end technology was tested against legacy SPM Destiny pumps.
products and then create a robust design in a short period of time,” said Kenneth Bean, chief operating offi cer of Weir Seaboard. “He really has such an incredible talent. I’ve never seen anyone else like him and our new people are learning as much as possible from him – he is one of the most dedicated employees we have ever had.”
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